Foreign Countries: to the eastward of Īrān. Badrīyah and other northern cities. Balāsāghūn. Tibet. The Uighūr. Tangut. Churcheh. China and Cathay. Khoten. Khwārazm. Qipchāq. Lands of Gog and Magog. Saq- sīn and Bulghār. Sind. Ṣaghāniyān. Sclavonia and Farkhār. Qirghīz and Salangā. Qandahār and Kābul. Kashmīr and Kaymāk. Māchīn. Trans- oxiana. Makrān. Magyars. Greater India. Yaman, Ḥaḍramawt and Yamāmah
BOOK IV. Containing a description of famous towns and dis- tricts situated in other kingdoms of the inhabited world; namely of those cities which lie outside the kingdom of Īrān, and were not built by the governors thereof. Now the scope of this work is indeed mainly, and as already said, the setting forth of the districts belonging to Īrān; yet of these others it appeared well to give here some notion in form of epitome and synopsis, in order that this book may be the more useful, as containing the sum total of all information; for it is generally agreed that the mighty buildings of the world, and the works of great kings, belong to all ages.
This part therefore is divided into two sections, the Eastern and the Western, and the division between the two I have made by drawing a line from the earth’s pole south to the equator. This line cuts across the Indian Sea, whereby the kingdom of Ceylon is to the east of this line, while the Arab Peninsula, the Red Sea and the province of Ḥijāz are to the west of it, the kingdom of Yaman and the Sea of `Omān being also of the eastern half. Then the line (going north) after crossing Īrān, [<Arabic>] leaves Alān and Charkaz (Circassia) and the Frank Country with the Cut of Alexander to the westward, while to the eastward lie the Desert of Qipchāq and the Caspian Sea; then it comes at length to the sea called Ghālāṭīqūn, and crossing the Islands of Darkness it reaches finally the Circumambient Ocean. This is the shortest line crossing the midst of the habitable quarter of the earth, and in citing all the kingdoms thereof we shall mention only what is most celebrated and worthy of remark in each:—but God alone knoweth all things.
The Eastern Side. This contains twenty-nine kingdoms and the setting forth of the same will be according to their alpha- betical order.
Badrīyah, Sanūrīyah, Baland, Varāng, Ansūr and Būdah*. These are diverse towns and plains lying beyond the Seventh Clime, between the Eastern Sea and the Sea of Ghālāṭīqūn. Most of their inhabitants are nomad dwellers in the desert. The climate here is extremely cold; and they raise but scanty crops, growing for the most part millet and summer corn, but neither cotton, grapes nor any other fruits can be brought to ripen. These folk have, however, much cattle, seeing that for their food and means of living they depend on cattle breeding. Further the produce of the rock-crystal mines here is very considerable.
Balāsāghūn*. This has a broad territory of the Sixth and Seventh Climes, and the cold here is extreme. Most of the people are nomads of the plain, having much cattle and many horses. The hay-crop is good, but there is little corn grown here.
Tibet (Tabat). A vast kingdom of the Fourth and Fifth Climes. It has many fine cities, and a good climate, producing corn, fruit and grain crops. Of its most famous cities are Khūjān and Naghlashīn*; the last being a very large city, with an immense population.
Tarsiyān and Uighūr*. These territories include many distant provinces, of the Sixth and Fifth Climes. [<Arabic>] Their notable towns or districts are Qamūl, Almāliq, Bīshbāliq, Khalakh, Jungar, Bamtak* and Fārāb, which last is the birth place of Abū Naṣr Ismā`īl ibn Ḥammād Jawharī, who is the author of the work called Ṣaḥāḥ-al-Lughat*. Other places are Kāsān, Tātār and Fay* which a poet has mentioned in his verses on the Ghulāms (Pages) of Sulṭān Sanjar, who had showed lack of bravery in their attack on the cavalry of the infidel Qārā Khitay. He says:
Bravo! O ye strong hearted Turkish swordsmen
Of the Tātār race from Fay and Kāsān;
You, the king of the Seven Climes
Has sent forth to conquest, taking you out of the ranks of the unfortunate*.
Tangut. This region comprises many kingdoms which are of the Fifth Clime. The Mongols call the country Qāshīn. Its best known towns are Yarāqiyā and Qarātāsh*, both of which are cities of a certain size, with numerous buildings. Around lie ex- tensive lands, having a numberless population of nomads.
Jurjat*. In the works of Rashīd-ad-Dīn this is mentioned as a long and broad kingdom which adjoins Cathay. They count it as possessing a population of 70,000 men.
China (Chīn). The Mongols call this land Manzī, while the Arabs name it Ṣīn. It is a broad wide kingdom stretching over the Second, Third and Fourth Climes. Its capital is called Machīn*, and it lies in the Second Clime, in longitude 125°, and latitude 22°. The population for the most part worship idols (being Manicheans) of the sect of Mānī the Painter. Among them live Moslems and Christians, but there are no Jews, and by reason of the fewness of the Moslems and the greater number of the idolaters, the preponderance in power is theirs. In this king- dom all arts and crafts have reached a high degree of perfection, and throughout the land are numerous great cities.
Cathay (Khitāy). This is a great kingdom of the Fourth and Fifth Climes. Its capital [<Arabic>] is Khān Bālīgh in the Fifth Clime, whose longitude is 124°, and latitude 37°. This is a mighty city, and it was called originally Changdū; and Qubilāy Khān built another city outside the same*. Of other great towns and well- known districts are the following: Nanking, where a great river runs through the city, Ṭabaksīk, Qal`ah Shīkāt and Ṭalmaskū*. Further, and besides these there are many others.
Khutan (Khoten). A great kingdom of the Fourth and Fifth Climes. Of its celebrated towns are Kāshghar, New Talās*, Ṣay- ram and Yārkand, and further there are many other provinces with numerous dependencies.
Khwārazm and Jurjānīyah. This region comprises many provinces, lying in the Fifth Clime; and it is of the cold region. Its capital is Urganj, now generally known as Khwārazm (City). In former days it was first known as Fīl, then as Manṣūrah, and then it came to be called Urganj. The city of Kāt was known also as Jurjānīyah. Other towns are Hazārasp, Darghān, Khāsh, Ardakhushmīthan, Sāfardaz, Nūzvār, Kardurānkhās, the Village of Farātakīn (or Qarātakīn), Mādhmīnīyah, Muzdākhaghān and Ghardamān. Khīvaq (Khīvah), which was the birth place of the Shaykh Najm-ad-Dīn Kubrā, is a small provincial town; and this province has besides many other districts and numerous cities. The lands produce corn crops and excellent fruit, and in particular melons grow here exceedingly well.
Dasht-i-Qipchāq. This is of the Sixth Clime, its plains bear excellent pasturage, stretching to the north of the Caspian Sea, but there are here few houses or towns or villages. Most of the inhabitants are nomads of the plain. Its most celebrated town is Khazar, from which same the plain takes its name, being also called Dasht (or Desert of) Khazar; then there is Burṭās*, also Suvār, Muḥtāl, Sarāy Bātū and Sarīr, which last is one month’s journey away. Most of the lands here are swamps (Hāmūn). The crops consist of wheat in small quantity, but millet and other summer cereals are good both in quality and quantity. [<Arabic>] Grapes, water-melons and other frùits are here remarkably rare, and no cotton is grown. The pasturage, however, being excellent, horses and cattle are numerous, and the population for the most part subsists on the produce thereof. The climate is cold, and their water comes from springs and wells. Two moun- tains here are celebrated, named Arnāq and Kurmāq*, and there are the rivers Itil (Volga) and Turk. The people here have now for the most part accepted Islam.
Lands of Gog and Magog. These are of the Seventh Clime, and the folk bearing these names were from here. Towns there are few, but plains and districts are many, lying between the Sea of China and the Eastern Sea. The most notable place here is the fortress, where the guards of the Wall have their abode*; and these men are Moslems.
Saqsīn and Bulghār*. Two small cities of the Sixth Clime, to which belong many districts and plains. Most of the furs in trade are brought from here.
Sind. This is a great kingdom of the Second Clime. Its great cities are Manṣūrah, Multān, Lahore, Sulṭāniyyah (Hayā- ṭalah or Hayāṭiyah), Farshāvur (Peshavur) Malikfūr, Quṣdār, Nahrawālah, and Quss, where there is much vegetation and the sugar-cane, also stuffs for clothes in great quantity. Next come Nārdīn and Qāmuhul, where the banana and the cocoa nut grow abundantly, and it lies on the frontier of India. Further Qaṣrān, Qallarī, Qandābīl, Qīqān, Qawj, Qanbulī and Qal`ah Nahsam, where there is the greatest idol temple of India*. Also there are other districts, cities and plains without number. The people of Sind for the most part speak the Persian language. The climate is hot, and grain crops of all sorts are grown.
Ṣaghāniyān. A great and broad kingdom of the Third and Fourth Climes. It has numberless provinces and produces all kinds of crops. The people here are for the most part Moslems.
Saqlāb (Sclavonia). A broad kingdom of the Seventh Clime. Its most famous town is Madīnat-al-Fīl (the Elephant City), which is also called Qaṭānīyah*, [<Arabic>] a very mighty place having many dependencies. Very little corn is grown here, but the summer-wheat is good.
Farkhār. This is a kingdom of the Sixth Clime, having many provinces and dependencies. The people here are famous for the great beauty both of their figures and faces, and the following verses have reference to this*.
All my suffering is from those fair ones of Farkhār,
And none the less must I bear with it:
For the fault lies not with those fair ones,
As I will explain, if thou canst bear to hear:
This trouble and mischief, O Lord, is from Thee,
Though no one yet has dared to say so;
Those lips and teeth of Turkish moon-faced maidens,
Thou shouldst not have created so fair to see;
For certes the longing for their lips and teeth
Makes us remorsefully gnaw with our teeth our own lips.
Qirghīz and Salangā. A kingdom of the Sixth Clime, the capital of which is Qarāqurum, built by Ogotāy Qāan*. Its climate is very cold, water is plentiful but crops are scanty, its chief produce being summer-wheat. The pasture-lands are very rich, stretching as far as the river Onon, which was the original Yūrt (or Camp) of Changhīz Khan*. Now in Qarāqurum Ogotāy Qāan constructed many fine buildings, such as kiosks, palaces and the like, for this was the place where he resided, and hence it took the name of Qarshī (the Palace).
Qandahār. A great kingdom of the Third and Fourth Climes. Its greatest cities are Qarā Khālūk and Walīshālūk, which is the capital; also Zāyidandān and Aghnāb*. There are further numerous other towns, districts and plains, all of which produce corn [<Arabic>] with some little fruit crop.
Kābul. A kingdom of the Third Clime, possessing many towns and lands. The sugar-cane grows here, with some other crops of the hot lands.
Kashmīr. This is a great city of the Third Clime; having a mighty wall and ditch. Many provinces of the Third and Fourth Climes are of its dependencies. The population, since they have mixed with the Turk tribes, are very handsome, being in fact celebrated for their good looks and fine figures.
Kaymāk* This country is of the Sixth Clime, and comprises provinces and plains: also farmsteads. There is much cultivation of the land, though towns and villages are few. It is a cold country, the raising of crops will succeed, also horses and cattle are plentiful.
Māchīn. A great and extensive kingdom which the Mongols know as Nankiyās. It is of the First and Second Climes, and its capital is the city of Khansāy, which some call Siyāhān*. They say that in all the habitable world there is no greater city than this, or at any rate that in the regions of the east there is no larger town. There is a lake in the midst of the city, six leagues in circumference, and the houses of the town stand round its borders. The climate is warm, and both the sugar-cane and the rice crop produce abundantly; but dates are so rare, and difficult to come by, that one Mann-weight of these is bartered for ten Manns of sugar. Most of their meat is fish, but beef is eaten, and the mutton is excellent, being exceedingly expensive. The population is so great that they have several thousand—some say ten thousand—watchmen and guards to oversee the city. Most of the people are Infidels, yet the Moslems though so few in number have the power in their hands.
Transoxiana. A great kingdom of the Fourth Clime. Of its famous cities are Bukhārā and Samarqand of Sughd, Khujand, Zarnūq and Sawrān*, Kishsh, Badakhshān, Tirmid, Ashnās* and Baykand, Ushrūsanah, Ūzkand, Utrār, Chāch (Tashkend), Isbījāb, Nasaf, Nakhshab, Ṭarāz, Fārāb, Fanākat, Saghnāk and Kant*. It is stated in the Ṣuwar-al-Aqālīm that by report [<Arabic>] Bukhārā in former times had a circular wall, the diameter of which was 12 leagues. Sughd (Sogdiana) is famous as being one of the Earthly Paradises; and from Bukhārā to Samarqand you travel for eight days, along the river bank, through one garden after the other. The people of Transoxiana are friendly to strangers, and a humane folk. In this country there are upwards of 20,000 villages, each with cultivated lands, and for the most part the population thereof go armed and are warriors, for by reason of their constant affrays with the Infidels it is necessary that every man should have weapons and a coat of mail.
Makrān. A great country of the Second Clime, and it is 12 days’ journey across. The capital is Fannazbūr, lying in longitude 93° and in latitude 24°. The climate is hot, and water is from a river. Other towns of this kingdom are Tīz, Manṣūrah* and Fahl-Fahrah. There is much cultivation here, with many farms, and villages without number.
Maks and Bāshqarūd*. These are two large towns of the Seventh Clime, having many lands and pastures belonging to them: most of their inhabitants are nomads of the plain.
Hind (India). This comprises many kingdoms by land and (numerous islands of the) sea. They have mostly a hot climate, and by reason of the broad area occupied by all these, it is said that India covers one sixth of the habitable earth*. In this work we can only name a few of the most celebrated places here, and as it is well known, the number of people and troops in those king- doms is quite beyond count. Its greatest city is Delhi in the Second Clime, this being now the capital of the Sultan. A city of almost equal size is Duwīrqīr* (Dawlatābād) of the Second Clime. Then there is Zaytūn and Ceylon of the First Clime; also Sūmnāth and Qanawj of the Second Clime; Cambay and Gujarāt, Murgh and Māh likewise of the Second Clime. Next come Coromandel (Ma`bar), Maqdashū, Malabar, Talang and Qal`ah, this city lying on the frontier of China, where there are the famous tin smitheries, for which reason tin is often called Qala`ī*. Lastly come Arūr and Tānah*, with other celebrated towns and districts, beyond count or compare. Now many, as for instance Malabar, [<Arabic>] Gujarāt and Cambay have each of them 70,000 villages, together with very many dependencies belonging to them.
Yaman. A great kingdom in the hot country, being of the First and Second Climes. Its capital at the present day is the city of Ta`izz, but of old it was Ṣan`ā, and in Ṣan`ā the climate was so equitable that one might spend all four seasons in this one place. The Castle of Ghumdān, one of the most magni- ficent and beautiful buildings in the whole world, stood in Ṣan`ā, and over its portal there were written these words: Verily we have told him: ‘For ever shalt thou not stay,’ nay rather we have told him: ‘Go forth in this very hour.’ It was the Caliph Othman who ruined this building. In Ṣan`ā too was the church known as Kanīsah Qullays which Abrahah ibn Ṣabāḥ built. It was one of the mightiest buildings of the earth, so that the mind was amazed by its grandeur and splendour; but the first of the Abbasid Caliphs Saffāḥ threw it down in ruin, carrying off therefrom its countless treasures. The city of `Aden is only a provincial town, but being a harbour it is much renowned. Ḥaḍramawt too is a small city, and the Prophet Hūd—upon whom be peace—is buried here. `Omān is the largest town in this district and the Sea of `Oman takes its name therefrom. The land of Mahrah is a great district here, and its largest city is called Shiḥr. The kingdom of Yamāmah according to some books is included in Yaman, others count it as of Ḥijāz. In the capital, and in some of the villages of Yamāmah, the Demons built a lofty palace for king Solomon—upon whom be peace— and it was constructed of huge stones; further (at one time) this city of Yamāmah was his capital. Other towns in Yamāmah are Falj, where Qays `Aylān lived; Zarnūq, Qarqarī and Arūn. In Yaman there are also other famous places, as for instance Fīlān, Farghān, Qālimah and Qalyāthah*. Further Ibn Khur- dādbih states that the Abandoned Well, and the Lofty Towers which are both mentioned in the Qurān (ch. XXII. v. 44) were in the territory of Al-Bawn, which is of the kingdom of Yaman. The wondrous stories that are told about the fortifications of the Lofty Towers need not to be repeated. But in the Qurān (ch. IV. v. 80) an allusion is made to these buildings; [<Arabic>] where it is said, in the word of God most high—Where ever ye be death will overtake you, even though ye be in the Lofty Towers. According to the commentators this edifice was built in bronze, brass, tin and iron, by king Rass, in such a form that there was no outlet, and on its walls many thousand warders were stationed to keep guard. The Men of Rass who are mentioned in the Qurān (ch. XXV. v. 40 and ch. L. v. 12) take their name from this place; and in the History composed by Quḍa`ī* it is stated that the destruction of the People of `Ād took place in a tract of country lying be- tween `Omān and Ḥaḍramawt which is of the dependencies of Yaman.